Drow-a-go-go

[Fayredeth]

The square root of "dr0w" is...

Perhaps you, as the DM, could make it so that there is no such thing as a good drow. Instead, you could inject a mystic element between the drow and the rest of the elven race by having drow that are good be accepted once again into the rest of the elven race, with "normal" elven features being restored after the character commits a truly good deed. So, the elves were once drow, but they have demonstrated that they are truly good, and they rise above their brethren that were cast down and rejoin the ranks of the noble elves. Or whatever. It can work in reverse, too; bad surface elves could be cast down as a drow, being forever resentful.

I think I might try something like that...

 

[Regdar]

Bah, gah drow!!!

Erik, Regdar wants to know when REGULAR elves will get as much treatment as Drow gets? Where are the uber kewl regular elves? Regdar is sick of drow now.

 

[Zappo]

1. Wake in the morning, sacrifice svifneblin or surface dweller, eat breakfast, brush teeth with spiderman toothpaste, drink java.

2. Plot overthrow of current matron mother and destruction of surface races, deicde which dress to wear for the day matching the color of the blood of the victem to be sacrificed for lunch.

3. Unite underlings from various houses on plans to enslave local races to my whim, pick out sacrifical victem for lunch.

4. Sacrifice victem for lunch, enjoy a mixture of debate with males, make sure one is sacrificed tonite if they displease me, thank the spider queen for this glorious day for not killing me.

5. Conduct raid with underlings on local underdark village enslave populace, make note to promote one of the males at a whim to cause infighting. Remember to smile!

6. Pick out male to be killed tonite, plan dinner, check traps to make sure noone has posined my meals or launched counterplot against me.

7. Eat dinner, sacrifice male to Lolth, kill priest who attempted to interupt my meal with a hand crossbow, order her entire family crucified outside house at behest of matron mother. Plan midnite sacrifice to the spider queen.

8. Order males to pepare for capture of underdark city tommorow. Coordinate plans with other houses using blackmail, subterfuge, and promises of power from matron mother. If all goes well I will get promoted, if all fails matron mother will take the blame. Cest la vie.

9. Sacrifice a child from the family that attacked me in my best spider silk nightie, all praise be the matron mother (whatever) and lolth (note: lolth first next time!). Goto bedroom, prepare spells for tonite, ward against intrustion and trap and posion the doors. Enjoy sleep.

LOL(th)!

Now if someone made a book with that in mind the drow would be feared!

And rather less numerous too, I reckon.

 

[Leopold]

LOL(th)!And rather less numerous too, I reckon.

well there are thousands of the buggers aren't there? and by theri own edicts they kill, backstab, murder, plot to kill each other and take over the world. With a layout like that they would be feared by all races and damn sure ready to take over the underdark.


The problem with the drow lately is that they are a bit TOO chaotic and not enough of the brooding, planning, manipulative, cunning evil doers who they are meant to be...now they are simply more underdark fodder and not even given a second thought as to killing.

FR style:
DM: You see a group of dark skinned elves ahead.
PC: Oh it' sjust drow, kill them and move on. We got one in the party so they aren't that tough.


1e style:
DM: You see a group of dark skinned eleves ahead.
PC: WTF ARE THOSE GUYS?!?! Elves undergrouND?!?! NO way! I heard stories, let's not fight them!

 

[lambdaZUG]

To our mind, Drow represent the perfect Platonic representation of my least favourite D&D convention: DM/Player conflict. The rules get broken just for them: they all run around with +3 this and +5 that, but can the characters use those items? No, sorry, they fall apart in the open air. They go around dropping darkness everwhere, but only they can see in it. The Dwarf complains: but, but I can see in the dark, too! No, sorry, only Drow can see through the darkness. Ooh!, says the Mage, I want a spell that blinds my enemies but not my friends! No, sorry, ancient Drow secret, no can divulge, no can reproduce. Even a simple "I magic missile it!" is met with a No, sorry, magic resistance.

In summary, no other foe in the D&D game is as cheesy as the Drow, whether they rhyme with Cow or Throw.

 

[Soltares]

I'm rather fond of the notion that just in ancient days, an elven goddess of secrets and wordplay was ensnared by her own intrigues and absorbed by the demon queen of spiders, to create a schizophenic demon-goddess named Lolth.

So too have her elven worshippers been mated over time with demons in her service, increasing their racial powers and their fertility.

The Drow are thus a specific case of partial fiend-blooded elves, like the Fey'Ri, with their spell resistance, innate spells and such all being a side effect of their tainted heritage.

As for the dark skins, it has already been established that elves coloration seems to reflect their local light level. The elves who live high in the mountains, close to the light of the sun, are pale and milky-skinned. The elves who live among the forests are darker. The elves who live in the deepest forest canopy, unseen by man, are darker still, almost brown. The elves who live in the sunless depths fade to black. Their coloration works in the reverse of that of a human. They do not tan, they instead bleach in sunlight, and darken in shadows, but over generations, not over a single lifetime. As a race, they adapt to their surroundings in color, so that an aquatic elf finds herself turning different shades of blue or green, depending on the predominant color of the surrounding waters, whether she lives in a sea or lake.

Plus, I like to allow Drow the full range of colorations depicted in the artwork. Erol Otus showed his dark elves as a blue bordering on black, while Parkinson used a dark, dark shade of brown, and yet other artists have shown them as true black, either dull and light-absorbing, or glossy, like obsidian. Perhaps the surroundings affect their coloration as well, so that a Drow city that has always been dimly lit by the reddish smoldering of their forges and surrounding lava beds, has Drow of a blackish-red color, like soot-covered Efreet, while the Drow of a city floating on an undersea, lit with bluish-green lights from the depths, would be a dark, nearly black, shade of blue or green.

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

I think people are way too passionate when it comes to the Drow, both in liking and hating them. They're just another race for the PCs to fight or cooperate with, depending on their type. If you feel they're not going to work anymore, just use one of the other numerous races in print, or come up with your own.

 

[tsadkiel]

1e style:
DM: You see a group of dark skinned eleves ahead.
PC: WTF ARE THOSE GUYS?!?! Elves undergrouND?!?! NO way! I heard stories, let's not fight them!

You can still get the WTF reaction; all you need is a time machine to take you back to oh, 1982 or so, and you're golden. (Or I suppose if you have really, really, really newbie players.) There's no use in closing the barn door after the horses have already gotten out and eaten all the children.

 

[Drew]

IMC the race we all think of as "drow" are called dark elves. They worship a pantheon of homebrewed gods and have a strong warrior/wizard type culture. They are not evil, per se, but they hate the elves that drove them into the underdark and wage a constant war against them.

There is a small but growing cult of dark elves who worhip Lolth. They call themselves the "Drow," but are really a cult of powerful Lolth worshipping dark elves bent on spreading their religion througout their kind.

That way, if I want to use a dark elf he or she is not necessarily that powerful. If the PCs hear Drow, however, they know they are in for trouble.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Wouldn't it suck to be attacked by drow right now? Oh wait, wrong thread...

Seriously, it seems like drow and ninjas have a lot in common. They've got a certain coolness but suffer from overexposure and misuse.

Obviously, the correct way to use drow is to play loud rock & roll music whenever the drow strike, talk about how kewl they are all the time, and to make them unstoppable killing machines.